Imphal River’s turbidity MPCC seeks Govt's attention

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 24 : Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) general secretary Pangeijam Saratchandra has sought immediate attention of the authorities concerned to the rising turbidity of Imphal River.
Taking serious note of the rising turbidity of Imphal River, the MPCC general secretary and members of Heingang Block Congress Committee today made a spot inspection of the river at Sekmai.
He said that stone and sand mining from the river bed using heavy machinery, and washing sand and stones in the river are the primary reasons for the abnormally high turbidity of Imphal River.
He said that the public, particularly those using the water of Imphal River, may face serious health problems if the authorities fail to check the activities responsible for the rising turbidity and pollution level.
He decried that no Government authority has so far bothered to inspect the river at Sekmai where the water is extremely muddy and polluted.
Pointing out that lakhs of people are dependent on the Imphal River, the MPCC general secretary expressed strong disapproval against washing sand and stones in the river.
Because of the extreme turbidity of the Imphal River, many water supply schemes which use Imphal River as their source of raw water are unable to supply potable water to the public regularly, Saratchandra said.
If the operations of these water supply schemes must continue, the raw water must be treated with much bigger quantities of alum and bleaching powder. But  consumption of water treated with abnormally high quantities of alum and bleaching powder can pose serious health risks, he said.
Moreover, intake pumps of many water supply schemes have been blocked by sand and other solid substances.
With the water supply schemes unable to supply potable water regularly, a large number of people have been forced to buy water from private suppliers but this is a huge burden to a large number of families, he said.
Saratchandra said that the water of Imphal River is no longer fit for any purpose including washing clothes.
He then urged relevant authorities of the State Government to check all the activities which are responsible for muddying Imphal River. He also appealed to all sand and stone miners to see that their activities do not pollute or muddy the river.